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Tuesday, 7 January 2014

SQUILT {Review}

In 2013 it was with great excitement that Mary announced that she was writing a music appreciation curriculum called SQUILT.

Mary has an undergraduate degree in Music Education and a Masters Degree in Education along with years of teaching experience both in public and the homeschool environment. Her desire was to write a curriculum in which all the work was done for you in order to make music appreciation easy to add to your homeschool rhythm. With SQUILT she has done just that.

The purpose of SQUILT is create a quiet regular slots of time in
order to expose children to excellent pieces of music. As well as equip them with the skills necessary to appreciate quality music. It is perfect for
preschoolers, elementary students, and young middle school students.

SQUILT is an acronym for

SuperQuiet UnInterrupted Listening Time.

How we used SQUILT

When I recieved my copy of SQUILT I downloaded it to my pc and saved it to my Samsung Tablet.

I love the detailed HOW TO part of the manual. Mary gives a step by step how to implement the music appreciation curriculum in your home and has hyper-linked all the terminology for clarification. The links take you to great resources to help explain the terminology. If you have the internet it means that the eBook is the ONLY material you need in order to use the study.

I followed Mary's 5 step preparation guide and printed out the relevant forms. These were all hyper-linked and took you straight to the page you needed to print.

Mary explained the process of introducing the SQUILT process and using the printables in the the eBook. For younger students it's about listening and feeling the music for regular short periods of time each day. If you have older students you can add in the lessons. These start with a short explanation along with facts of the Baroque Era. Next we were given a list of composers from the era along with when they lived.

After that we learned about Dynamics, Rhythm, Instrumentation and Mood. Sir N is learning how to express how the music impacts him using these as the tools. Younger students can start with 'Draw How ...' Notebook page. There are notebook pages for the children to complete included.

As we progressed we were introduced to the musical instruments of the era and coloured in a notebook page for our folder. Now that Sir N had the terminology and an understanding of the musical instruments of the Baroque era we progressed to the lessons.

There are a total of ten lessons covering six composers. Each lesson gives a short bio of the piece of music. Links to listen to or watch a YouTube clip for that piece of music. You are given a little bit of background to the clip as well. Mary explains the dynamics, tempo, instrumentation and Mood for the piece along with questions to prompt you. Each lesson is ONE page long so you are not overwhelmed with information. These are followed by notebook pages.

Between the lessons you will find incidental lessons. These are titled: What is ... ? If there is something you need to know or understand about a piece of music, you will learn about it before the official lesson.

The final part of the book is an Answer section. Here you will find the answer the question on page 25.

What We Thought
We love SQUILT and look forward to using future Volumes. It is perfect fit for busy home school families and Mom's who do not have time to gather resources for music appreciation. I like the fact that despite my lack of musical training I am able to teach Sir N to appreciate music and together we are able to explore the different era's of music together. You can read more about SQUILT on the FAQ page.

Cost

Volume 1: {1600-1750}Baroque Composers $8.99

Volume 2: {1750-1830}Classical Era $8.99

Volume 3: {1830-1920}Romantic (available in February 2014)

Volume 4: {1920- Present}Modern Era (available in March 2014)

A SQUILT for Classical Conversations Inc - Cycle 2 released 6 January 2014

This is an electronic product and available for purchase from SQUILT. All prices are in US $ and correct at time of review. Please confirm prices before purchasing.

FREE SQUILT Lessons
Mary has some great SQUILT lessons on her blog to get you started.

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I am a Christian homeschool mom of 3 children. I have been home schooling for 18 years and just started again with my youngest child. I enjoy to read and research information. This blog contains a variety of my thoughts and reflections on my journey as Wife, Mother, Daughter, Sister and Friend.

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Zephaniah 3:17

The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a mighty One, a Savior - Who saves! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest in silent satisfaction and in His love He will be silent and make no mention of past sins, or even recall them; He will exult over you with singing.